Raju gets thumbs-up for testing body

The HRD ministry managed to win broad support for its plan for a national testing agency that will conduct multiple centrally-held admission tests for higher educational institutions.

The blueprint for the National Testing Agency, shared by the ministry with state education ministers at a meeting of the CABE on Tuesday, represents a subtle but definite shift from the plans pitched by former HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who had pushed for a single national examination.

The proposal pitched by MM Pallam Raju allows state governments to continue holding their own admission tests, and even establish their own testing agencies, as was first reported by HT on March 31.